Book trimmer knife setting gauge



25, B DU BOOK TRIMMER KNIFE SETTING GAUGE INVENTOR .Dl/EY Filed March 16, 1965 Ban/u ATT R NEYS United States Patent Ofi 3,315,368 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 ice 3,315 368 BOOK TRIMMER KNIFE SETTING GAUGE Benjamin Duby, New York, N.Y., assiguor to H. Wolff Book Manufacturing Co. Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 440,089 1 Claim. (Cl. 33-185) The present invention relates to improvements in book trimmers and it relates, more particularly, to a knife setting gauge for a book trimmer.

An object of the invention is to provide a knife setting gauge for a book trimmer which enables the knives of the trimmer to be set quickly and accurately relative to each other in a position to produce smooth, evenly cut edges on the book being trimmed and without interference as between the opposing knives.

In the past, the setting of the knives in a book trimmer has been a time consuming operation resulting in considerable downtime for the machine and has required a skilled mechanic to make the necessary adjustments. However, the use of a knife setting gauge embodying the present invention enables an unskilled worker to position the knives accurately in a relatively short time.

Further, the use of a knife setting gauge embodying the invention eliminates the possibility of improper knife setting adjustment which may result in improperly cut edges or in the destruction of one or both of the cooperating knives of the trimmer.

In addition, the use of a knife setting gauge embodying the invention insures uniformity in the positioning of the knives after each sharpening thereof, with the result that the trimming operation performed will be consistent aft r each adjustment of the knives.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description, read in connection with the drawing, in which FIG. 1 is an end view in vertical section taken along line 11 of FIG. 2 of a portion of a book trimmer with a knife setting gauge embodying the present invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a side view, partially broken away, of a portion of the book trimmer having the knife setting gauge attached thereto as shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 illustrating a portion of the book trimmer with the knife setting gauge removed and showing the relative position of the knives with the pages of a book in position for trimming.

It will be understood that in production of a book, a number of signatures which have been collated, are compressed or smashed to a predetermined thickness, and then glued together along the spine of the book prior to trimming. This portion of the book is then fed into a trimming machine, where the bottom, top and front edges of the signatures are trimmed to produce a multitude of separate pages, each glued to the spine, and having evenly cut smooth edges.

It will be understood that the book trimmer, as such, is a conventional machine which is available commercially on the market and it forms no part of the present invention. A well-known trimmer is the Accu-Shear trimmer produced by the T. W. & C. B. Sheridan Co., of New York.

Generally speaking, a knife-setting gauge embodying the invention may be in the form of an elongated block which is adapted to be removably secured in a predetermined fixed position on a part of the book trimmer which carries the lower of two trimming knives which is generally supported in a fixed position during operation of the trimmer. The gauge and the part of the trimmer to which the gauge is attached are provided with mating surfaces which serve to accurately position the gauge and the surface of a knife engaging portion thereof relative to the cutting edge of an upper or movable knife of the trimmer. The lower knife of the trimmer is adjustable and when the cutting edge thereof is brought into engagement wtih the knife engaging portion of the gauge, the lower knife will be properly aligned with the upper knife and can then be firmly secured in place.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 3 shows a stack 10 of compressed and glued signatures in position in the trimming machine, for the trimming of one edge thereof. The trimming machine has a fixed trimmer body 11, which is recessed along one side edge toform a horizontal knife supporting shelf 12 on which a lower trimming knife 13 is supported. In this arrangement, the lower knife is held in place on the shelf by means of holddown bolts 14 (of which one is shown) which pass through the oversize openings 15 in the bottom of spaced recesses 15a in the knife. The bolts also extend through apertures 16 in the knife suppporting shelf and into engagement with nuts 17 which are located in spaced cavities 18 on the side of the trimmer body beneath the knife supporting shelf.

Fine adjustments in the position of the lower knife may be made by means of adjusting screws 19 which are threaded at one end in tapped bores 20 in a side face of the knife. The outer ends of the adjusting screws extend beyond the side of the knife and engage with a vertical stop face 21 formed on the trimmer body and extends along the inner side of the knife supporting shelf. By inserting a screwdriver blade through the bores 20 in the knife and into slots 22 in the head of the adjusting screws (see FIG. 2.), the lower knife may be forced outward away from the stop face by turning the screws.

An upper knife 23 is positioned in opposing relation to the lower knife on a vertically reciprocable slide 25 to which it is secured by bolts 24 (of which one is shown in FIG. 1). Vertical reciprocation of the slide moves the upper knife between a raised position, as shown by solid lines in FIG. 3, and a lower position, as shown by dotand-dash lines in that figure. During downward motion of the slide, the edge 26 of the upper knife engages with and shears the edges of the assembled signatures in cooperation with the edge 27 of the lower knife. As may be seen in FIG. 3, the knife edges must pass very close to each other and must be properly aligned if all the leaves of the signatures are to be cut evenly and smoothly, but the knives still must clear each other if breakage of the knife blades is to be avoided.

When wear of the knife blades is corrected by resharpening, readjustment of the lower knife is then required as otherwise the gap between the knives would be too long. The upper knife may be sharpened by grinding face 28 and removal of metal from this face does not alter th path taken by the knife edge as it descends. Hence, after grinding the upper knife may be bolted back in position.

However, the face 29, extending downwardly from the cutting edge of the bottom knife is slightly undercut and when the bottom knife is sharpened by grinding that face or by grinding upper surface 30, such sharpening will alter the position of the lower knife edge with respect to the upper knife. For this reason, readjustment of the lower knife is required after each sharpening.

In order to insure proper and accurate setting and to avoid tedious and time consuming trial-and-error adjustment of the lower knife, applicant has provided a gauge 31 which when attached to the trimmer engages with the lower knife and determines its position in the trimmer.

trimmer body by spaced bolts 33 which enter tapped holes 34 in the trimmer body and has a surface 35 on one side thereof which engages with and rests against a mating surface 36 on a side of the trimmer body extending downwardly from the lower knife shelf. The mating surfaces on the gauge and the trimmer body may be machined for accuracy if desired. Blocks or extensions 37 project upwardly from the base of the gauge above the plane of the lower knife shelf and to a point above the level of the lower knife edge.

Each of the extensions has a vertical knife locating surface 37a formed thereon which is aligned with the cutting edge of the upper knife and serves as a stop or limit against which the lower knife edge may be set. By moving the edge of the lower knife into contact with the locating surfaces of the gauge (which may be done by means of the adjusting screws 19), the operator of the trimmer obtains the proper setting for the lower knife without the need of employing trial-and-error techniques. The gauge is then removed and the trimmer is ready for operation.

Space or gaps between the knife setting extensions of the gauge are aligned with the tapped bores in the lower knife (as may be seen in FIG. 2), and thus, permit a screwdriver blade to be inserted into the tapped bores for engagement with the slotted heads of the adjusting screws. The hold-down bolts may be tightened sufficiently to hold the lower knife in place while still allowing lateral adjustment thereof by means of the fine adjusting screws. Also, the openings for the hold-down bolts are made large enough to allow for the required lateral movement of the knife.

If desired, the bolts for attaching the gauge to the trimmer body may be provided with the retaining clips 38, to prevent their removal from the gauge when it is removed from the trimmer body.

The gauge described is simple to manufacture, rugged, and easily used. Where more than one lower knife is located in a trimming machine, a gauge may be used for each knife.

While a preferred embodiment of the knife setting gauge has been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific structure illustrated and described above and that various changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

In a tool for setting an adjustable knife of a book trimming machine with an edge thereof in cutting alignment with an edge of a knife reciprocating vertically relative thereto, the combination which comprises:

(a) an elongated bar having a substantially flat positioning surface formed on one side thereof;

(b) a series of spaced extensions projecting upwardly from an upper surface of the bar;

(c) said extensions having inwardly facing knife-positioning surfaces extending above an upper surface of a platform on which a cutting knife is adjustably supported and being located at points intermediate adjusting screws for said knife; and

((1) means for releasably securing said bar to said platform with the positioning surface on the side of the bar in engagement with a mating surface on a side of the platform and with the inwardly facing surfaces of the extensions in opposing relation to a cutting edge of the adjustable knife and in alignment with a cutting edge of a cooperating knife which reciprocates vertically relative to and across the cutting edge of the adjustable knife.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,203,814 11/1916 Tomkinson 33--185 1,225,552 5/1917 Wuesthofl 33-185 1,653,048 12/ 1927 Kelly 33-485 LEONARD FORMAN, Primary Examiner.

S. S. MATTHEWS, Assistant Examiner. 

